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My VTR SP2 (RC51) - Modified.

I had a 954RR Fireblade, but realised I didn't like it much pretty soon after buying it in 2004. Had always hankered after a VTR SP2, but they were always rare bikes in Japan...

Then one day when I mentioned to a friend I was after one, he found this example on Yahoo!
It had lots of nice bits on already and the owner had clearly loved the bike & kept it well. Only had some 5,000km on back then.

It felt immediately special the first time I rode it after parting with cash, so I sold the Fireblade to a Russian guy who subsequently became a biker buddy.
Met another SP2 owner when I ran out of petrol the first time I rode it.... He was kind enough to stop and help me push it to the nearest station...a typically kind Japanese guy.

Soon we were riding together in Izu and other places on weekends.

Didn't realise it at the time, but the exhaust it came with is a rare HRC / Akrapovic full titanium system similar to that used on WSB bikes... and is today worth around $5,000 USD... so I'd gotten a bit of a bargain...

Realising this was a bike I wasn't going to part with, I decided with the weak pound & strong Yen it was a good time to buy some goodies. Forks were sent off to Maxton in UK and matched with a GP7 race shock over a winter's hibernation.

Looking at Harris' website proved to be too much temptation and so a set of PVM wheels were ordered.

Bike had come with a Power commander mapped for the exhaust kit.
Got a large carbon funnel and replacement carbon airbox that doubles the volume compared to standard (clever system originally designed by Thorsten http://www.honda-rc51.de/Homepage.htm) which works by enclosing the throttle bodies inside the airbox and using the underside of the tank as the lid for the airbox. Induction sound was much improved and torque / power increased a little too.

Original discs got warped...

so I opted for a set of braketech full floating discs. Didn't upgrade to cast iron as those tend to rust..

Then bought some Discaciatti racing calipers (4 pot) from the factory to go with a Brembo RCS18 master cylinder.
These are much the same as Brembo's best racing calipers at less than half the price.

Fitted a 2nd hand disc from an RC51 that was being sold in parts from the States... underslung rear caliper kit is still a work in progress.

A set of adjustable bars were cheap, so got those at the same time.

Also uprated the top yoke and fitted more Magical Racing carbon... bike now has every piece of MR available.

Have since fitted some Watsen design flush indicators too, but they're only on the front in these pics.
Tiny little things that aren't visible unless switched on.

Babyface rearsets came with the bike when I bought it.

Anyways, that's the gist of what I've done so far to it. A bit of a pain at shaken as I have to refit original indicators and exhaust system, but a small price to pay every 2 years...

Thanks for the compliments. Always been a Honda rider since about 30 years ago. Liked Ducatis but didn't want to suffer the tempermental tantrums they can throw, so I stuck with the equivalent Honda. As the last WSB homologation bike Honda made, these RC51's don't really depreciate... especially SP2's which carry a lot of subtle but worthwhile improvements over the more common SP1's....

Although Maxton re-worked forks were already good, the (dual valve) Ohlins forks are better at absorbing bumps, whilst keeping composure. The carbon wheels have made the most difference though, it's much easier to adjust a line mid corner if needed for example, where before it was a nice bike to ride, now it's astonishingly accurate by comparison. My friend with the black SP2 exchanged with me and was so impressed with the difference his next mod will be Carbon wheels. They're much cheaper in UK than in Japan, a bit less than half the price.

Thanks for the compliment. I have a VFR750 owned since nearly new (imported from UK to Japan 2 years ago), so also really like the RC30's & RC45's, but the reality is they're too old & expensive now.
The RC51 (VTR SP) was made in much larger numbers than Honda's V4 homologation bikes, so is still cheaper. I bought mine about 8 years ago here in Japan and it would still be worth much the same as I paid back then, which is good in terms of investment I suppose. Anyways, it's a bike with a lot of character and presence (Engine sound is obviously completely different to most). Get one whilst you still can, they will go up in value like the older siblings, no doubt.